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NPR Censors Another Poet



/* Written  3:01 PM  May 20, 1997 by pacificnews in igc:pacnews.storie */
/* ---------- "NPR Censors Another Poet" ---------- */
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OPINION-700 WORDS

CENSORING A POET'S VOICE -- NPR DECISION A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT

EDITOR'S NOTE: When National Public Radio commissioned a "news" poem from 
this year's American Book Award winner Martin Espada, no one (including 
the poet) foresaw that he would draw his inspiration from a story about 
death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. NPR rejected the poem -- an act that 
many critics, including the poet, view as censorship. PNS associate 
editor Dennis Bernstein is a producer for Pacifica Radio and an award 
winning investigative reporter.

BY DENNIS BERNSTEIN, PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

BERKELEY, CA. -- National Public Radio's refusal to air a poem it 
commissioned for National Poetry Month sets a dangerous precedent. The 
effect is particularly chilling because so many consider NPR as an 
alternative, willing to air voices that do not find their way into the 
mass media.

In April, NPR staff commissioned the poet Martin Espada to write a poem 
in response to some recent item in the news. Espada, whose latest volume 
of poetry won this year's American Book Award, is a professor of English 
at the University of Massachusetts, and his poems have been broadcast on 
NPR in conjunction with news stories on a number of occasions.

While visiting Philadelphia, Espada says, he read a Philadelphia Weekly 
story about a move by lawyers for Mumia Abu Jamal, a death row inmate and 
former reporter whose 15 year struggle to win a new trial for the murder 
of a police officer has drawn international attention.

The story reported that Jamal's lawyers had found "an unnamed prostitute" 
who was on the scene the night of the killing and can exonerate Jamal. It 
also noted that another prostitute, Cynthia White, had disappeared after 

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Article-ID: 05_1997&4144938
Score: 80
Subject: Re: Weller bizarre accusations (AZTLAN list policies)